The sand palace
by temari2503
Summary: It all starts when Gaara invites the konoha ninja to his sand palace...where anything can happen...who knows?
1. A flower in the wind

**The Sand Palace**

**The Naruto characters do not belong to me. They belong to some brilliant person…who brought Naruto to this world. **

1. A flower in the wind

Temari loved the way her younger brother Gaara had become more mature. No more killing for fun, no more crazed fits, and most importantly, no more fear in people's hearts. She knew what made him so crazy was that the people couldn't accept him, that he was not respected enough. Feared, but no where near wanted. Now people had to respect, and for some fools who dared, they could fear. But it was not wise to fear the person that had vowed to protect the village- The kazekage.

His face had barely changed, but this time it felt as if he were calm, and occasionally he threw fits, like a simple child. Like how he didn't want to wake up, how he couldn't get a girl, normal things like that. Temari had to admit she had had some fits of her own.

"Gaara-sama… oh isn't he too handsome."

"I know what you mean; I also like quiet handsome types like Gaara-sama."

Temari's fists clenched at her sides. Those silly tittery girls… she couldn't stand them. They would be all over Gaara, where last time they would be at the sidelines staring, screaming for him to go away, calling him a monster.

Gaara would never accept them. He would protect them, but he would never take a sand woman as his wife. His cruel past had twisted his opinion of them, all except Temari.

"What do you want in a woman then?" She remembered asking him.

"I want…" is voice trailed off.

"What?" Temari sometimes got frustrated of Gaara's not giving answers. "What do you want?"

"I want elegance. I want a woman who does not smile when she does not want to. A woman who isn't afraid to risk her life to protect something important. She has to be powerful, but so humble and serene that you would never guess. Something of pure beauty, with her not even trying. Peaceful…Like a flower in the wind."

He had whispered, and then gave himself a little smile. She had never known that he could speak words of such thoughtfulness, as he was much younger than her.

"You really have been thinking about this, Gaara." Temari said, whistling.

He closed his eyes in thought.

"Yes I have."

* * *

"Gaara-sama!" A desperate fist pounded against the wooden door. "Are you there? This is a matter of urgency."

"Come in Baki." Gaara let his old teacher into the office.

Without hesitation, Baki swung the door open and bowed.

"We have just received a message from Konoha village…it says that there are several shinobi coming to visit for a period of 1 month." Baki spluttered, sweat dripping down his face.

"So?" Gaara's cool demeanor pulled off the little hat trick. He smiled as Baki's mouth opened. "Who are they?"

Baki opened a scroll and examined it once more.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata, Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji."

"Six." Gaara pondered. "Let them stay at our house, the sand palace."

Baki gasped.

"But Gaara-sama…they're just normal Konoha ninjas."

Gaara glared at him.

"No." He said coldly. "They are more than that. Also, I think we owe them an apology on how unkind we were the last time I traveled there."

Baki hung his head as he remembered their desperate attempt to grasp hold of Konoha. At that time, Gaara's father had ruled as kazekage…and Gaara was still…

As Baki left the room, Gaara thought. He liked those certain ninjas. He had met them all at the Chuunin exam. Konoha people were different than the people here. They were not so greedy for power. They had not feared him, and actually dared to confront him and stop him from killing a helpless victim. And he felt ashamed of what he had tried to do last time. Uzumaki Naruto had made him feel the desire to be kazekage, the reason to be here. Gaara shook his head. He did owe them an apology…and thanks.

* * *

"You invited them to what?" Temari and Kankurou said in unison, expressing their shock well.

"I invited them to stay here for 3 weeks." Gaara said calmly. The 'wise' kazekage suddenly felt the full force of what he had done. "Only 3 weeks. It's no big deal. We have loads of space in this big palace."

"No big deal?" Kankurou and Temari had caught on to the habit of speaking in unison.

"Oh just shut up!" Gaara got angry and stormed out of the room, slamming the door.

Just after he slammed it, a kitchen spoon and a poison needle hit the door, missing him only by a bit.

* * *

"Is it one of the girls that you think is your…flower in the wind?" His siblings still would not let it go. After one hour, Temari was still nagging him. But Kankurou had given up and gone to play with his puppet. "Oooh…Gaara."

Temari wagged a finger at him. He chose to ignore it.

"Temari…I thought you would be pleased to know that the shadow guy is one of them." Gaara cleared his throat, catching Temari in her soft spot.

"Why would I be pleased about that?" Temari turned red.

"Yeah Temari! This is your time to shine and catch that shadow bastard in your net!" Kankurou smirked. "I'll help you I promise…take her now…Shikamaru…I can swear she's wanted."

"No thanks. I can catch him and kiss him on my own thank you. I don't think you're convincing enough. But he is quite…cute." She said, turning a deeper shade of pink.

"Does that mean you like him after all?" Gaara said, compressing a smile.

Temari blushed as she realized she had given away her true feelings. The sand palace echoed with the laughs of her two brothers.

Kankurou went with Gaara to the kazekage office later. He and Gaara certainly didn't want more bruises from that scary beast that now roamed the halls of the sand palace…Temari.

**This is my first chapter of my first piece….how do ya like it? Pls review! I will update very soon!**

**Temari2503**


	2. The flower lands

**Lol! U don't know how tired I am. I barely brought myself to get up…! So this is the second chapter! Remember, the Naruto characters do not belong to me!**

**2. The flower lands**

"I honestly don't know why you wanted to come here Shikamaru!" Sakura shouted. "This special trip that the hokage granted us was supposed to be a nice holiday! Not a visit to a desert! I actually thought that this trip would be fun!"

Shikamaru groaned. "Stop being so troublesome. This is the problem with women."

Naruto laughed. "Yeah Shika! Why _did _you want to come?"

Chouji munched on his packet of barbeque chips. He didn't seem to be interested in the group's conversation. At least not more than his packet of chips. All the group had talked about for the two day trip were things that he couldn't even be bothered to remember. All he knew was that Sakura's whiny voice – especially when she was complaining…almost annoyed him to death. And Ino's not to mention. Also, what bothered him more was the fact that now Sakura might actually be stronger than him…she sure improved under the fifth hokage. She was an experienced ninja now. However…everything she said bored Chouji to death. Until the extent that he would have ran away. But there was no where to run to, in the middle of this isolated desert. All he did was listen to them talk about boring things…and watch the boring desert, the never changing landscape. Konoha was better…much better to him. But now _this _was interesting. Chouji turned around and looked at Shika. Everyone was by now.

Naruto raised an eyebrow…then he grinned mischievously. "It's not because of that sand chick is it?" His grin only got wider. "I mean…she is hot, if that's what you're after."

Shikamaru turned red. He turned around and stalked off.

"So it is." Naruto grinned. "I have wonderful detection skills…and you Shika…have horrible deception skills."

"Shut up." Shikamaru turned around. "I do like her…and without you horrible friends embarrassing me constantly…I hoped that I could have expected something out of her by the end of these 3 weeks. But now you know, there is _absolutely _no hope for me."

Sakura clapped her hands and jumped up and down.

"Shikamaru-kun is finally growing out of his I hate women stage!" Ino squealed. "Don't worry Shikamaru! We'll make sure you get something out of her."

She and Sakura made a high five, and then they both screamed with delight.

"What about you guys?" Shikamaru glanced around at the two combined teams. You should know that this trip is the perfect opportunity to find somebody." He glanced warily at Naruto and then at Hinata, who had kept almost silent for the whole trip.

Ino sighed. "Maybe I'll meet a handsome young sand-nin…who's not fat, that is."

Chouji didn't seem to notice her negative comment. He ate the last chip in the packet.

"I wonder what will happen with that sand freak around…you know that person with the tattoo love in kanji on his forehead…Gaara was it?" Ino continued, a crinkle of worry appearing on her forehead. "I wonder if he's still as crazy. He did hurt Sakura."

"That so called freak Ino…I'm pretty sure he isn't…is now kazekage." Shikamaru said.

"I don't know about you…but anybody has a monster in them is obviously a freak." Ino scoffed, her eyes turning away. She didn't get why, but Shikamaru made her feel so bad for even thinking about Gaara as a freak. The anger inside her built up, and words she didn't mean spilt out of her mouth. "He doesn't seem worthy to be the fifth kazekage."

Naruto turned. His eyes were full of pain and understanding. Ino had no idea what she had said wrong to make happy, cheerful Naruto into a sort of solemn…person, almost reminding her of Sasuke as they trudged on. Sakura looked troubled.

"He's no freak…just lonely." Naruto whispered.

Sakura, trying to take her mind off Gaara, looked far off into the distance…_haruka kanata…_her mind was drowsy now, swarmed with memories, both of Sasuke and that crazed face she had seen…the sand that had drowned the red hair and the face's features, only leaving an inhuman face behind. Bloodlust, she had almost died. Could she ever forgive him? She pretended to look for a while…then suddenly, she saw a gate.

"Guys…I think we just arrived at the middle of nowhere." She smiled, temporarily forgetting her sadness. "And look at that _huge _building. It's almost like a palace."

They looked up only to see the outline of a round building. It looked new, carefully crafted out of sand. On the top, the kanji for wind was neatly engraved on the top, the symbol shining through the sand, making the dull desert seem somehow different. A gust of wind came their way, making shikamaru's chuunin vest flutter. He sniffed. Through the dust and sand in the air…he could see…Temari.

"It's beautiful." All breath seemed to leave him. But instead, he was looking at the building. Temari looked annoyed.

"But its beauty is no where as pretty as mine." Temari smirked, her face almost distorted in a frown. She wasn't ugly, just unseemingly scary. It made Shikamaru smile. That was exactly what he liked about her.

"Come on people!" Temari bellowed, looking at Shikamaru cheekily. "Let's go to the sand palace. It was Gaara's gift to the people of Suna."

The building shone with pride. It was beautiful. It was something worthy of Gaara's creation.

"Hey Gaara." Naruto smiled. Those two would have a deeper talk, when no one was around. Or maybe when it was just the boys.

Gaara stood there as well, his gourd nowhere to be seen. After all, the whole desert was his weapon. He was wearing black. The old gang, now all older, had switched costumes. Their style was more matured Naruto's suit black rather than the bright orange that hurt Gaara's eyes. He smiled. That girl had changed. Sakura, was it? Her eyes were not so desperate now, as he remembered her, posing to strike, protecting the Uchiha. How could he have done that? As kazekage now, he could barely believe he had gone that crazy. He smiled; thankful he wasn't like that anymore.

Sakura stared at Gaara. He seemed…more normal now. Maybe calmer, with a little less bloodlust. She smiled at him, and almost laughed when she saw his shocked face. His words echoed in his head…

""_I want elegance. I want a woman who does not smile when she does not want to. A woman who isn't afraid to risk her life to protect something important. She has to be powerful, but so humble and serene that you would never guess. Something of pure beauty, with her not even trying. Peaceful…Like a flower in the wind."_

He smiled again, this time inside. He began to wonder whether his flower had just landed right in his hands.

**A short chapter. I don't have enuff time. Such a shame. I so wish I could spend more time on this story. But don't worry! I'll make the next chapter super long and super good. I was doing this while doing maths homework…so please don't insult me.**


	3. Only when Sober

**OMGSH! I HAVEN'T UPDATED 4EVA! OMGSH! HERE YA GO!**

**3. Only when Sober**

"The boys still going at it?" Temari asked, shaking her head.

Sakura, who had her ear pressed to the boy's room's wooden door, sighed. She stood up and brushed her pink hair out of her eyes. They had arrived in the sand palace, and the boys…had barricaded themselves in the room with 10 bottles of sake each. Crazy as it was, the girls had stayed outside, waiting for them.

"Hahahah! I still know the best pick up line!" Kankurou's drunken voice giggled in a silly sort of way. "Come sit on my lap and let's talk about the first thing that pops out!"

The boys roared with laughter, causing all the girls outside to roll their eyes.

"Those male chauvinists!" Ino growled under her breath. 'I'LL TEACH THEM A LESSON THEY'LL NEVER FORGET WHEN THEY GET OUT! THOSE DIRTY MINDED OLD MEN!"

All the girls nodded their heads sadly. Suddenly Temari stood up.

"If they want to hang out in anti-women groups lets go hang out by ourselves!" She roared, punching her fist into the air.

"Yeah! Tell it like it is!" All the girls shouted back. "Where should we go?"

The question echoed in the air. Suddenly, they all screamed.

"Let's go shooopppiiinnng!"

Hinata was the only one who kept silent, but she managed a small smile.

Smiling, caught up in the sudden excitement, Temari opened the drawer and took out Gaara's credit card. She grinned slyly.

"He told me to use it in emergencies…didn't he?" She said in a taunting voice.

The girls grew wide eyed as they smiled.

"Let's go girls." Temari marched out of the door, beckoning to the others, who smirking, followed.

"Yeah!"

* * *

They were sitting down at a café 5 hours later, drinking ice cold lemon tea and relaxing their tired feet. Too bad for the boys. They knew how depressed women liked taking their mind of…well, being depressed. They should never lock women out. That was their lesson for today. They had at least bought a truckload of expensive designer labels each, all notoriously expensive. Gaara would blow his mind.

"So Temari-Chan, do you like Shikamaru?" Ino asked, lifting down her new Suna shades.

Temari turned a deep shade of red and hid her face behind a red shopping bag, as though trying to hide.

"So you do!" The girls screamed. Hinata, even though naturally shy, gasped. "He does too!"

Temari looked surprised at this.

"He does?" She whispered, smiling to herself. "That's the best news I've heard in ages."

She then turned to Hinata.

"So…what about you and Naruto?"

Hinata turned even redder than she was from the heat and made a sighing noise in her throat. She looked as if she was going to choke from the piece of ice that she had just swallowed.

"You seem to like him a lot you know." Ino smiled at the nervous Hinata.

Hinata's world spun. Should she tell them?

"I do. I like Naruto-kun." She whispered, fidgeting again.

Temari seem to lay back a bit.

"There's the Suna ball soon you know. That was the_ real_ excuse for shopping."

Temari smirked at the girl's surprised faces.

"Now you can wear all those cute dresses we bought together…at Gaara's expense." She laughed, and the girls managed to relax a little. "You Sakura have seemed to catch my brother's eye."

Everyone saw Sakura visibly tense up. She kept her face calm as her now shaking hands struggled to put the cold glass on the metal table. Her eyes showed no emotion behind the dark glasses she had just bought. But, her lips were curled into a pleasant smile.

"He's much gentler now isn't he?" She asked, her voice as smooth as silk.

Temari shut one of her eyes. "Now that, I am sure of."

* * *

It was dark when the girls decided to go home, bringing back a fast dinner for the boys. They placed the bags in the rooms and retired to their rooms. Temari and Sakura kept awake, as Ino and Hinata plonked out like dead lights. Hinata seemed to be exhausted.

"I wonder if it's her first time out shopping with her friends. She never seemed to have any friends. She's perfect for that loud mouthed ninja." Temari thought. "Even _he_ can be nice at times."

Sakura padded with Temari out onto the carpeted hallway, slipping down the stairs and back to the drawer where they got the credit card. The boys were asleep now, and tomorrow they would be hung over. Temari carefully opened the drawer, but it made a loud rattling noise as it trundled open. Suddenly, asliver of sand grabbed hold of her hand which she held the card.

"So did I give you permission to use my card?" Gaara was staring at her with cold eyes. The blood of Shukaku was always excited at night.

He looked out for the kill until he saw the face of the person who stood terrified, behind Temari. Sakura. His eyes softened and his anger melted away.

"Whew! I thought you were about to blow then." Temari sounded relieved when she saw Gaara's face go calm.

What a strange feeling, Gaara thought, so calm this feeling is. Just all because I saw _her._

Temari placed the card in the drawer.

"Just entertaining out guests." She smirked as Gaara stared at Sakura.

"Good night girls." Gaara turned on his heel and disappeared into the dark night.

Temari looked around. Sakura seemed to be staring after him. Suddenly, she ran up the stairs and disappeared too. It was only Temari now, and it was scary. All of the sudden, two warm arms shot out and hugged Temari's neck.

"I love you." The voice was Shikamaru's. But there was something wrong. His voice was high pitched. She realized he was still drunk. Temari looked up at him.

She could take him now. Or later. But what if what they said wasn't true and he _wasn't _in love with her? But playing him along when he was drunk...there was something wrong with that.

"Sorry Shikamaru...you better go to sleep. I only want to hear that from you when you're sober. Only then…" Temari wrapped her arms around his neck for a while she whispered into his earand then pushed him away from her. Tears started to flow freely down her face. "Please."

She turned around and walked away sniffing. _Please. Don't make me cry. Why you? Why today? I only want to hear that when your awake, and you mean it. It matters to me, and I hope…I hope…it matters_..._to you…too._


	4. I meant it, drunk or not

**Well I was bored…so….**

**4. I meant it, drunk or not**

"Do you guys even remember what happened last night?" Shikamaru asked, his forehead pounding. He felt terrible. And he had woken up to what he didn't want to see. Boys strewn along the floor, groaning from sake overdose.

What exactly had they done when drunk? Shikamaru had fantasized a night with Temari, but he doubted that was true. He almost threw up with disgust of the room, reeking with alcohol. He blushed as he recalled his dream. _Temari._ Such pleasant dreams he had when he was drunk. He ignored more slurred moans from the bodies on the floor, and stumbling to the bathroom, he sighed. He sighed as he took a hot shower, and changed into clean clothes. Temari, and that night. Sometimes you wished that things were true. He saw Ino at the table, in the kitchen, trying to get breakfast too. He felt refreshed.

"Good Morning Ino." Shikamaru's voice was unsteady, and he felt drowsy. "Why are you all wet?"

Ino wrinkled her nose up in a disgusted look.

"We girls went swimming this morning, not lazing around like you pack of dogs." She said in a disgusted tone of voice.

Then, suddenly realizing, she glared at him.

"What did I do now?" Shikamaru thought as Ino slammed the milk carton down on the counter. He looked away at the painting on the wall. "Wait. Do I even know what I've done?"

"I heard…" Ino looked absolutely furious, her eyes etched with the words…punishment time. "I heard Temari crying last night." Her face softened.

Shikamaru looked straight at her, surprised. About what? I'll pound the person who made her cry, he thought.

"Did you know what you did?" Ino asked cautiously.

"Yes, of course! What do you take me for?" Shikamaru replied, smiling coolly. _I am such an ass, he thought._

"Well good job Macho man." She quirked her eyebrow at me, banging the carton down on the counter again. Shikamaru watched as the milk shot out of the hole. "Good job for making her cry… So all that talk about liking her was bullshit or what?"

Shikamaru thought of ways to commit suicide, analyzing them in his head. Was there a way for him to pound himself? He felt like giving himself a good punch right there.

"I don't know what I _really _did." He confessed, leaning down on the counter slowly.

Ino glared some more. "You told her you loved her when you were _drunk_." Her eyeballs were almost bulging by now. "She was happy until she realized u were _drunk_."

The way she said the word drunk made Shikamaru so ashamed for being drunk in the first place.

"Why was she happy?" Shikamaru asked calmly, placing his words carefully.

"She loves you, you idiot." Ino shook her head. "And you went and hurt her feelings."

"_She loves me but I hurt her. But I would never want that." Shikamaru thought. "Never."_

"Well I hope she knows I didn't mean it." Shikamaru said defiantly.

"Mean what? That you loved her?" Ino said gently.

"I mean that! I do love her, I meant that whether I'm drunk or not! What I was saying was that I hope she knows that I didn't mean to hurt her." Shikamaru placed a hand on his forehead like he was distracted.

"Go apologized now. She's on the terrace drinking morning tea." Ino turned around and went, leaving the carton on the counter.

_Women are sure messy, Shikamaru thought. Should I go say sorry? Would she accept it?_

The decision was quite _easy, _he decided. He looked at the ground. Easy. How easy were women? Not very. He wandered out to the terrace where he saw Temari looking out at the sunrise in a blue bathrobe, calmly lying on a beach chair. The beach chair was next to a small table, which on it lay sunglasses. Shikamaru saw she was sipping a steaming cup. Her hair was wet from swimming in the new pool. Her eyes were red from crying and had dark circles around them, though not as bad as Gaara's.

"Temari?" He called gently.

Temari heard him and jumped up, pulling the bathrobe more tightly around her. Shikamaru saw she was bare underneath and blushed. They stood there in embarrassed silence, Temari trying to conceal more of her chest with the bathrobe.

"Please, have a seat." She gestured, pointing to the beach chair.

"No, that's not it." He said. "Temari, I'm…"

Her eyes softened.

"Ino told you, didn't she?" Shikamaru didn't reply, and she went on. "Well it didn't hurt me, if that's what you're getting at. Why would I be hurt by you? It's not like I want to be loved by you or anything."

Her voice was high pitched, and she was trying not to let the tears fall. Shikamaru had to know she was lying.

"You know that's not true. Temari…please let me explain…" His voice was pleading.

"I'm serious. Why would I care? It's ok." She tried to walk past him and run, just to hide the tear that had escaped.

He let her brush past him.

"Temari, do you love me?" He asked.

It made her freeze, but she forced herself to walk on, slowly. The real question was, did he love her? Shikamaru spoke to himself in his mind.

_You coward Shikamaru. Your letting her go! Why? Why let the only thing you live for disappear from your life? Well, I guess it's too troublesome._

_**Shut up. I can let her go if I want.**_

_Yeah right genius. You act all smart, but anyone can see you're actually stupid. _

She was walking away, and still only one tear had escaped. Suddenly, she felt Shikamaru grab her shoulders. She was facing him now, but they were very far apart.

He looked down at her; he couldn't stand her hurt expression. He really was a coward.

"I deeply apologize." He said in a proper voice.

For what? For not loving me? Temari's thoughts spun. Why did I even believe Ino in the first place? Shikamaru probably loves her. She's so lucky; she just doesn't realize it yet. She decided to speak.

"What do you apologize for? I know you don't love me. Don't be sorry." She said, trying not to cry anymore.

"No." He shook his head, but his voice was soft and gentle. "For this."

He leant down and kissed her, and time seemed to be caught between the two young ninjas. His kiss was gentle, and her heart seemed to be tossed like a feather in the wind as he pulled her closer. She kissed him back and put her arms around him. Sakura and Gaara? Hinata and Naruto? Who cares about them? Right now, she had gotten her perfect movie script ending. His fantasy, her fantasy, they all came _true_.

**Temari and Shikamaru are my fave couple. Lol! I'll be back!**


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